


The Science Lab

by JackyM



Category: Welcome to Night Vale, wtnv
Genre: Doggies!!!! :D, Dogs, M/M, Pups, cecilos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 19:22:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3821902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyM/pseuds/JackyM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'”</p><p>Cecil finds a mysterious, fluffy dog when he gets home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Science Lab

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, first off I want to say this is one of the cutest things I've ever written. ;w;
> 
> So, a teeny amount background for this: I had an RP with my awesome friend and RP partner logicalDemonness a few weeks ago and I really wanted to base a fan-fiction off of it, since it was super cute and totally some great fan-fiction material! I hope I did the RP some justice! owo/
> 
> You can follow me at hushpupper.tumblr.com! ewe

“Carlooooooooooooos, I’m home!”

No answer.

“Carloooooos, are we still on for movie night, or what?”

More than ready for Carlos to quite literally jump into his arms, Cecil began to wonder where Carlos could’ve gotten once more than a minute or so had gone by. If Carlos wasn’t busy with his science, either while experimenting at home or staying late at work, he usually greeted Cecil the moment he walked in the door with a hug or a kiss, or both. But Carlos (usually) remembered to tell Cecil if he’d be working late at his lab...so he had to be somewhere in the house. It was only logical. At least, that’s what Carlos would’ve said. Cecil poked his head into the kitchen and the living room, and found Carlos in neither rooms, both of which popular places Carlos took up working in, setting up his science equipment in those rooms and performing super scientific science experiments there.

_He might just be sleeping_ , Cecil thought absentmindedly to himself as he went up the stairs (making a mental note feed them that night, as they were getting quite loud and restless). Cecil couldn’t really think of anything else.

Poking his head into the bedroom, making sure he was quietly opening the door, Cecil looked for Carlos’ familiar curled up shape underneath the covers, and to his surprise, found they were perfectly flat; not disturbed by Carlos’ scrunched up sleeping form. Cecil closed the bedroom door, and leaned his head against it. Okay. So Carlos was gone, with no explanation. This was fine. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. He’d text him and ask where he was. Carlos would text back, hopefully, and _everything would be fine_. Cecil sent a quick text to Carlos, asking of his whereabouts and wincing from a slight pinch from his phone’s screen as he sent the text message. It always did that when it didn’t feel like sending texts. The nerve of it all.

As Cecil went back downstairs, he heard a noise coming from the living room.

It was Carlos’ text tone.  

It meant Carlos’ phone was in the house, and Carlos was not. 

And if Carlos’ phone was still in the house and _Carlos_ wasn’t...no, no, that wouldn’t happen. Nobody took him. They wouldn’t. Carlos hadn’t been doing anything _particularly_ illegal lately. Nothing that warranted a kidnapping by the city council, much less, a kidnapping and permanent murder or any other form of physical torture. No, no. He was fine. Wasn’t that always what a scientist was? Usually was?

Cecil walked into the living room, curious as to where Carlos’ phone even _was_ ; maybe there’d be something there to suggest where he’d scampered off to with his phone. Not that it was vitally important. He was probably just working late. 

Cecil walked into the living room, where he’d heard the text tone sound from. Cecil walked over to the coffee table, where he found Carlos’ phone sitting with a notification for a text from Cecil. However, on the couch, Cecil did not find his boyfriend, only a fuzzy black dog, fast asleep and making the tiniest little doggy snores. 

“Oh my _god_ ,” said Cecil, immediately reaching over to pet the sleeping animal’s head, “hi there, little guy. Where’d you come from?”

Upon being pet and hearing Cecil’s voice, the dog lifted its head up, and yawned (causing Cecil to make the smallest squeak of jovial surprise), before looking at Cecil and cocking its head. Cecil continued petting its head, feeling its incredibly soft fur beneath his fingers. The dog, very suddenly, barked, and stood up on the couch and began wagging its tail, excitedly smiling and looking at Cecil with great jubilance. 

“Aww, hey, I’m friendly,” said Cecil, holding out his hand for the dog to sniff it, “how’d you get in here? Did Carlos let you in? Or did he leave the back door open again?”

The dog looked about the couch, and, when it saw the lab coat, picked it up in its mouth and nudged Cecil with its snout. Cecil sat down on the couch, noticing the dog fur that’d already begun clinging to it; whenever Carlos got home, he’d wouldn’t be too pleased with that. The dog nudged him again, whining as its nudging continued. 

“That’s Carlos’,” said Cecil, knitting his eyebrows together, “hmm. Wasn’t that the one he wore this morning? Did he just...take his lab coat off and leave? That’s very strange.”

The dog nudged Cecil again, dropping the lab coat into his lap and wagging its tail as Cecil shook it out and started folding it. The dog whimpered, clearly distressed at something. Cecil gave the dog another look. The dog barked at him, and laid down on the couch and let loose a tiny doggy sigh and stretched its paws out. They bumped into Cecil’s leg, and Cecil held one of them in his hands.

“You’re awfully strange yourself,” said Cecil, petting the dog’s head, “and that is the _cutest thing_ I have ever seen.”

The dog lifted its had up and tilted it again. Cecil tilted his head as well. The dog sniffed the lab coat, now folded up in Cecil’s lap, and pawed at it.

“I told you, it’s Carlos’,” said Cecil, “and you really shouldn’t chew it up, this looks like one of the fancier ones. And I still don’t know how you got in here! Are you the kind of dog that can unlock doors? Or are you a government-sent dog with a microchip recording everything I’m doing right now?”

The dog barked again. 

“You’re awfully chatty. Are you a chatty boy? Do you talk a lot?”

With a yawn, the dog simply jumped off of the couch, stretching when it got off ofit. Then it shook itself out and walked into the kitchen. Cecil immediately got up, and followed and dog there. He watched it with a great deal of zeal, observing the dog as it looked around the area of the kitchen.

“Are you hungry? Oh, is that why you came into the kitchen? You’re such a smart boy! You know there’s food in the kitchen! You smart, smart boy!”

With a sudden bark, the dog walked over to the kitchen counter and puts its paws up on top of it, and it began wagging its tail fervently as Cecil walked over to the counter, trying to piece together what this dog was trying to do. Cecil looked in the general direction the dog was looking in; it looked like it was in the same direction as a picture next to the sink of himself and Carlos, a picture that had been taken a few months prior at the bowling alley.

“Are you looking at that photo? Do you see something in there, buddy? Oh. is it where you’re from? Are you from the bowling alley? Oh my god, you _recognize_ it! You’re such a smart dog. Carlos is going to love you.”

The sound of a bark and a whimper caught Cecil’s attention. He noticed, the dog was staring rather intently at Carlos in the photograph, wagging its tail with its tongue dangling out of its mouth.

“Wait,” said Cecil, now looking at the photograph as intently as his canine compatriot, “is it _Carlos_ you recognize? Do _you_ know _Carlos_? Maybe that’s why you had his lab coat earlier...is that why, you super smart pup? You recognized his lab coat?”

The dog only cocked its head. Was there something about this dog that Cecil recognized? If there was, he certainly wasn’t picking anything up. At least, nothing over just how _cool_ this dog was. He was sure it understood every word he was saying, and was probably the sweetest dog he’d ever met, and all dogs were sweet. That was saying so much. This dog, it was like, the most perfect dog there was. 

“You are my _favorite_ dog,” cooed Cecil, rubbing the dog behind its ears, “and you even know Carlos! Which makes you an even better candidate for being my favorite dog. But how do you know him, hmm? Oh my god, do you work with him? Are you a science pup? Is that a thing? Science pups? It has to be a thing. That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

With a huff the dog took its paws off of the counter and went back on all fours. It stared at the ground for a moment, wagging its tail, as though it was thinking of something. Probably how much it loved the person whose house it has stumbled into. 

“Carlos is my boyfriend,” said Cecil, sitting down next to the dog on the floor, “has he ever told you that? That’s he’s my boyfriend? He must have, you’re such a wonderful dog. What he probably doesn’t tell you is that he curls into a tiny ball when he falls asleep, it’s just the sweetest thing.And he talks in his sleep sometimes, but usually he’s very quiet. He has a dream about Thomas Edison a lot. He thinks Edison is going to take his ideas and use them for himself, can you believe that? Like, there are weird things to believe, like the existence of mountains or the idea that apples are good for you, but _anyone_ taking _his_ ideas? His ideas are too wonderful to take away.”

The dog nuzzled Cecil with its snout and licked his face. Cecil chuckled, and looked at the dog for a moment. 

“I love him,” said Cecil, half to himself and half to the dog, “I wonder where he’s gone off to. I hope he’s okay. I hope _I’m_ okay.”

The dog barked a few times and pawed at Cecil’s leg. It was odd, how this dog suddenly appeared in his house, and even odder that Carlos hadn’t come home yet. It was nearly well after seven, and even when Carlos was at his lab late, he usually made it back by six thirty. And even if he hadn’t come home yet, why was his phone and lab coat still in the living room? None of it made the slightest bit of sense. But at least, whether the Secret Police placed this dog in his house for some kind of investigation or not, he had a companion for the time being. He supposed, it wasn’t something he should think too hard about. Perhaps thinking about it was exactly what he _shouldn’t_ be doing. Oh, dear, had he thought about it too much already? Was thinking about thinking about it a bad idea? Would Carlos never come home because he kept thinking about it?

Cecil felt something being pushed against his foot, and noticed the dog was pushing one of Carlos’ journals towards him. Furrowing his brow, Cecil picked up the journal. This was an older one, from before Carlos even came to Night Vale. It had Carlos’ name on it, and a few other things Cecil couldn’t read nor begin to understand. 

“It’s Carlos’, but you know that, right?”

The dog put its paw over Carlos name, and looked at Cecil for a moment. 

“Ohhh! You can _read_? Oh my god, you’re one of the dogs that can _read_? I had no idea Carlos knew the kind of dogs that could read. Oh my god, you’re the most wonderful dog I’ve ever met. Can you read anything else? Can you read...” said Cecil, opening up the book, “can you read anything here? Because I can’t read anything here. I probably can’t understand it, either. It’s probably some _really_ scientific stuff that he did. Do you know how scientific it is? It’s like, really scientific. My boyfriend is so smart. But you already know that, right? Since you’re his science dog?”

The dog looked at the page Cecil had open for a minute. It cocked its head and placed one of its paws on a few letters, and Cecil peered over the book to look at it.

“H2O? Is that what you’re pointing to?”

 With a stretch, the dog got up and looked around the kitchen for a moment. Cecil exuberantly looked around with the dog and elicited a tiny squeak as it stood up on the sink and clumsily turned it on. The dog turned around, and looked at him, panting, smiling the way dogs do. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god oh my god oh my _god_. You really are a dog scientist! You know what water’s chemical symbol is! I know why Carlos loves you so much. You’re such a smart boy, such a good, smart boy!”

Cecil got up, with some difficulty, and turned off the sink while the dog dropped down to all fours and looked at him, wagging its tail. Cecil looked down at the dog, and smiled at the dog smiled back. He looked into the dog’s eyes for a moment. 

And he saw something he hadn’t seen before. Maybe, because he hadn’t been paying attention to it. When he really thought about it, it’d been there the whole time. And also, because this dog was _so cute_ , and like, so fuzzy and adorable and oh my god, it’s little floppy ears were so cute, how could he do anything except pay attention to how cute it was. 

Or, how cute he was. 

This dog was a boy. 

Incidentally, this dog was also Carlos. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. It was really obvious, when he thought about it. All the signs had been there. Carlos practically gave the signs to him. 

“Oh my gosh,” said Cecil, dropping to his knees and looking the dog in the eyes, “you’re him, aren’t you?”

The dog barked, and wagged its tail. Cecil kept peering into its eyes. Oh, it--he--definitely was Carlos. There was the same sparkle of avidity, the same glimmer of kindness and raw passion Cecil had seen the first moment he looked at Carlos in the eyes. He didn’t know why he didn’t see it before. Well, yes, he sort of did. But he wished he’d noticed sooner. 

“I guess I wasn’t paying attention,” said Cecil, letting his eyes drift from Carlos’, “you’re not mad at me, are you?”

Carlos looked at him, and did the best he could to shake his head.

“No? Okay. I’m still sorry. I called my own _boyfriend_ a good boy. Ughh, Carlos. I’m so sorry about that.”

Carlos barked in response, and nudged Cecil’s hand with his snout. Cecil managed a smile. 

“So...what’s going on? Why are you a dog? Wait, no, you can’t answer me. Carlos, was this some kind of an experiment gone wrong? Or did you mean for this to happen? Oh, no, Carlos, is this permanent? I mean, you’re very cute as a dog, but I’d rather you be a human, for obvious reasons.”

Carlos tried shaking his head again, and licked Cecil’s hand. Cecil exhaled, and rubbed Carlos’ head a little, giggling a little as Carlos’ tail started wagging. Cecil started rubbing his head a little more. Carlos barked, and laid down on the floor. Cecil took his hand away and nearly squeaked in happiness as Carlos rolled over and exposed his belly. 

“Are you...asking for a belly rub, Carlos?”

Carlos barked.

Cecil giggled, and gently started rubbing Carlos’ fuzzy belly, softly at first and then with a little more energy. Carlos closed his eyes and smiled, his leg jerking back and forth with absolutely no control. 

“Awwwww, Carlos, you have the jimmy leg! You really are an _adorable_ dog.”

* * *

 

They had not, of course, gone to the movies, with Carlos being a dog in all. Instead they’d decided to watch a documentary on rock formation Carlos was particularly fond of, conveyed through a series of barks and whimpers, and occasional tail wags. Communication was certainly difficult, but not impossible. Carlos said at a later point, “I think that is one of the things made possible, through love! Communication without words! It’s a lot like how there’s always a way to simulate things in science, even if the direct materials are not available. You can find the exact same scientific answer, even without the necessary materials. If two people love each other enough, they can answer important questions even without the direct materials. Especially if those materials are the vocal facilities to speak normally. Uh, scientifically speaking, meaning, according to science, and all its principles.”

Cecil had agreed with this. Indeed, their night was ending even better than it might have ordinarily. Carlos was stretched out on Cecil’s lap, half asleep, and Cecil had his hand on Carlos’ head, and had been gently stroking it for the duration of the film. With the film almost over, Cecil yawned and stretched, wincing at the sharp pain that erupted in his back. Carlos lifted his head up and tilted it.

“I’m okay, honey,” he said, pressing his finger against Carlos’ nose as he snuggled up against Cecil’s chest again. Cecil looked around the living room, and made himself a little more comfortable. Carlos did the same. Cecil chuckled, and picked the lab coat up from where it was lying by the side of the couch (he’d placed it there when they decided to watch a movie from there), and draped it over Carlos. Carlos wagged his tail and licked Cecil’s face. 

“I think I’ll sleep down here tonight, if that’s alright with you,” said Cecil with a chuckle, “I’m a little too comfortable to get up.”

Carlos let out a small doggy sigh in response.

“Goodnight, Carlos,” said Cecil, rubbing his hero scientist and currently dog boyfriend’s head, “goodnight, my wonderful, smart, always surprising boyfriend.”

 

* * *

 

Cecil woke up the next morning with Carlos fast asleep on his chest, and Carlos wasn’t even awake when Cecil pulled him into a strong embrace and kissed what might’ve been every part of his body. 

“It was a test on the species-changing plants you mentioned,” said Carlos over breakfast, “remember? When you were talking on your show--I mean, you do that thing a lot, but I am referring to a specific moment here--about how they were banned from households because too many people were using them to turn into colossal squids?”

“I do! And you decided to start using one illegally? Carlos, you absolute _scandal_.”

“Cecil, many scientists have had to do things that are considered illegal to ultimately benefit science. Darwin once that that ‘laws should not limit a scientist’s desire and requirement to study the world around them. So what if a scientist breaks a few laws? Robs a few banks? A scientist is free from laws as long as it’s in the name of science. And I’m not just saying that because I’m on the run from the law.’”

“So, you used that plant, then? How come I found you at home? Did you use it here?”

“No, actually. It didn’t take effect until after I fell asleep on the couch. I knew it would happen after I fell asleep, though, because I did a lot of experimentation with it beforehand. You know, the kind of experimentation where I hold up a graduated cylinder with TAE buffer and nod and say ‘yes, mmhm, yes’ a lot. I found out before the changing starts, you end up feeling drowsy. I think there’s a scientific reason behind it, but I don’t know what it is yet.”

“You should definitely look into it more! I’m sure there’s all sorts of crazy scientific things you can find out about this.”

“And,” said Carlos, after hastily drinking all of his coffee, “I turned into a dog because, scientifically speaking, dogs are like, the best animal to become. Dogs are wonderful.”

“They are. Especially when they’re you. You were such a cute dog, Carlos. The way your leg started kicking me and ooooh, the way you looked with that doggy lab coat? Oh my god, you looked like a little scientist dog, ready to do dog science, and it was the cutest thing I have ever seen! But, Carlos, did you mind?”

“Did I mind what?”

“Did you mind me...you know, calling you a...?”

“Oh,” said Carlos, laughing and shaking his head, “of course not! You didn’t know at first. But I know why you didn’t.”

“Uh...why didn’t you?”

Carlos smiled, the genuine smile he had for everyone, but the smile he always had for Cecil, the smile he’d always have for Cecil, the smile that Cecil could never feel upset seeing.

“Because, Cecil, you are a total dork.”

Cecil smiled back at him.

“Oh, on the contrary, Mr. The Scientist, I think that’s you.”

“No, no, it’s you.”

“You.”

“ _You_!”

“Cecil, I’ve just thought, as a scientist must do, of a stunning possible conclusion to the question of which one of us is the dork!”

“Oh? And what might that be?”

“The conclusion is that,” said Carlos, looking around the kitchen for a moment before looking back at Cecil, “that both of us are dorks.”

“That truly _is_ stunning, Carlos.”

“Cecil, do you know what’s even more stunning?”

“Hmm?”

“You.”

“And you,” said Cecil, “whether you’re a human or a dog or even a sentient cloud of dust. But, uh, don’t become a sentient cloud of dust, because I can’t hug you then. Like, at least I could hug you when you were a dog and kiss you and see it was you. I can’t do that if you become sentient dust. I know you love science and experimenting, but don’t do that, okay?”

Carlos chuckled.

“Not in a million years.”

 


End file.
